Camp Mystic security guard says an early evacuation order could have
saved lives
[April 16, 2026]
By JIM VERTUNO
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The security guard at Camp Mystic the night of last
year's deadly flood acknowledged Wednesday that if a general evacuation
order came early in the storm, lives could've been saved.
Glenn Juenke, who helped move some girls to a two-story building before
getting trapped inside a cabin himself, also saved a group of campers
when he told them to run to higher ground as flood waters rose.
He testified at the end of a three-day hearing in a legal fight between
the camp operators, who want to reopen the all-girls Christian Camp this
summer, and families of some of the victims who died in the July 4th
flood that swept through the Guadalupe River in the predawn hours.
Juenke, called as a witness for the camp operators, said it was his
decision to tell a group of campers to scramble on foot up a hillside as
floodwaters rose, and was not an order from camp directors or
authorities.
He did not recall camp operators ever training the campers, counselors
and staff where to go in case an emergency evacuation was needed.
The camp's plan to reopen has angered families of the girls who were
killed, and the camp license is still under review by state health
regulators. A judge last month ordered the camp to preserve damaged
areas as evidence for pending lawsuits. That ruling is under appeal.
The hearing has produced the most extensive details from camp operators
of what happened in the flood, including missed chances to prepare for
the storm, and the delayed decisions to evacuate.
Describing the storm that came roaring through camp, Juenke said he
first joined camp directors Dick and Edward Eastland in driving some of
the girls away from their cabins. But Juenke later abandoned his truck
when the water got too high to drive.
Now on foot, Juenke ordered a group of young girls to run to higher
ground. He returned to another cabin where he was soon trapped in
waist-deep water. Storage trunks were tossed around the current before
they were sucked out and away.
Juenke ordered the girls in the cabin to get on air mattresses, and they
stayed floating there for several hours.
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Camp Mystic night watchman Glenn Juenke testifies during a hearing
on a suit against Camp Mystic in the 459th State District Court in
Austin, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Mikala Compton/Austin
American-Statesman via AP)
“It was a long night. We were getting bitten by fire ants. There
were spiders ... The girls did everything I told them to do," Juenke
said. None of the girls in that cabin died.
Juenke said they emerged around dawn. He then met up with Catie
Eastland, one of the camp directors, near the two-story recreation
building where about a hundred girls had escaped the flood.
“I said y'all could have had a million different evacuation plans,
nothing would have worked,” Juenke testified.
Lawyers for the families have zeroed in on the lack of a detailed
evacuation plan and the failure to send orders to get out of the
cabins. A short emergency notice posted in cabins, one that had
passed state inspection just two days earlier, had told campers to
stay in their cabins until given instructions by staff.
In all, 25 campers and two teenage counselors were killed. Camp
co-owner Dick Eastland also died.
“You can blame it on Mother Nature or God Almighty, but if anyone
had used the speakers or walkie talkie and told them to leave before
3 (am), they would’ve survived,” said Brad Beckworth, an attorney
for the family of Cile Steward, 8, the only camper whose body still
has not been recovered.
Juenke defended his actions and those of the staff that night.
“We did everything we could do in the time that we had,” Juenke
said.
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